Street Fighter IV (Collector's Edition) Walkthrough & Strategy Guide

Sagat is not a complicated character. And yet, he is, at present, considered to be the most devastating fighter in the Street Fighter IV roster. The two elements of Sagat's game that make him so powerful are his Tiger Shots and his easily comboable ultra which deals massive damage.

Sagat's Tiger Shots are faster than any other character's projectile in the game, which means that you can dominate a projectile war against pretty much everybody (Dhalsim's got tools to make it difficult). Stick mostly to Low Tiger Shots ( + K ) until you expect the opponent to try and jump over your barrage, at which point a High Tiger Shot ( + P ) will knock him/her out of the air. As a Sagat player, you are generally at an advantage to fight from a distance, so do your best to keep the fight there.

If an opponent gets through your fireballs, poke with s.LK and cancel into a Low Tiger Shot. Even if it's blocked, it's a good poke string to push back the opponent with. As well, c.MK is an excellent poke, with solid range and a low hit to break a high guard. You can cancel that, too, with a Low Tiger Shot. You can also push opponents back with a Tiger Knee Crush ( + K ) as it's a fairly safe attack.

Unfortunately, Sagat's LP Tiger Uppercut ( + LP ) has very, very little horizontal range, while his other two uppercuts leave Sagat very open if you whiff with them. You can extend the horizontal range of his LP Tiger Uppercut by first triggering a Low Step Kick ( + LK ) and canceling it with an uppercut before the kick even comes out. But really, when you throw a Tiger Uppercut you should be ready to FADC it. This habit is both for safety and for Sagat's greatest strength...

By FADCing a Tiger Uppercut, you can pop an opponent into the air, setting him/her up for a juggle combo that includes Sagat's devastating Tiger Destruction ultra ( + KKK ). If an opponent is standing over your downed body, wake up with a Tiger Uppercut and FADC it. If it lands, you can go right into Sagat's ultra or just land a High Step Kick ( + HK ) for more time to see if the combo is connecting. If that High Step Kick lands, you can still combo into Sagat's ultra.

And that plays into another of Sagat's tools for keeping the opponent at bay. If you've got a full ultra meter, you can always threaten with a High Step Kick as an anti-air against an incoming jump-in attempt. If that High Step Kick connects as an anti-air, you can juggle an ultra combo. The damage dealt is pretty crazy, and combined with Sagat's great fireballs and very high hit point count makes Sagat arguably the best character in the game.

Combos

j.LK ( cross-up ) c.LK xx + HK xx + K

Sagat's j.LK is his only cross-up, and it's not especially good. To combo off of it, you'll have to connect very low to the ground, so it's mostly useful as a meaty attempt. But if you can connect it, you can combo into a Low Tiger Shot and cancel into Sagat's super ( + K ). We're not sure it's totally worth it, since Sagat needs meter for EX Tiger Shots and FADCs, but if you want to polish off an opponent this isn't a bad way to do it. And if you're in a corner, you can continue by juggling with an ultra combo.

c.MK xx + HP xx FADC xx + HK + KKK

This is a fairly obvious route into Sagat's awesome ultra combo if you've got the meter, and highlights why you should probably save Sagat's super meter for his FADCs. Cancel the Tiger Uppercut quickly and dash forward to connect the High Step Kick, off of which you can pretty easily juggle with Sagat's ultra.

+ HK ( anti-air ) + HK + KKK

It's a shame this combo works so well, unless you're a Sagat player in which case it's quite awesome. If an opponent jumps at you, tag him/her with a High Step Kick. You don't even have to be immediately ready to fire off the ultra, because Sagat can juggle with a second High Step Kick before finally deciding that, yeah, about now would be a pretty sweet time to tag the opponent with an ultra, I guess.

Moves List

Heavy Tiger Blow

+ HP

NORMAL

This is a solid overhead that does good damage and even has pretty solid range. Throw it out after s.LK and c.MK pokes fail to bust through an opponent's low guard.

Low Step Kick

+ LK

NORMAL

It's pretty slow and leaves Sagat vulnerable afterward. Don't use it as a kick. What you can use it for is extending the range on Sagat's supers. Interestingly, the Low Step Kick can be canceled into a special before it even connects. Mostly this is useful for stretching the horizontal range of a LP Tiger Uppercut.

High Step Kick

+ HK

NORMAL

Doesn't hit opponents that are on the ground, but it's a great anti-air and easily juggles 1) with itself and 2) with Sagat's ultra.

High Tiger Shot

+ P

SPECIAL

Fast fireball that travels high. It'll pass over the heads of crouching opponents, which lets them more quickly jump at you. But it's good for knocking opponents out of the air when you suspect they're trying to jump.

Low Tiger Shot

+ K

SPECIAL

The better Tiger Shot for most uses. It can't be crouched under, but it is easier to hop over than the High Tiger Shot. Still, it should be your main choice for a projectile. And encouraging opponents to jump against Sagat isn't necessarily a bad thing...

Tiger Uppercut

+ P

SPECIAL

The LP version has pretty weak horizontal range, and the other versions have quite a bit of recovery time. Generally, you should be FADCing your Tiger Uppercuts, using them as a lead into Sagat's ultra. They've still got solid priority and do good damage, and you can extend the horizontal range by canceling a Low Step Kick.

Tiger Knee Crush

+ K

SPECIAL

Good priority and speed on this horizontally rangy attack. It's a good counter to a fireball up close as it'll usually beat the projectile. And since the Tiger Knee knocks down on hit, you can begin pressuring with Low Tiger Shots afterward, or even go for a j.LK cross-up.

The key to Sagat's power. You can easily juggle the ultra for most hits off of a High Step Kick, an FADC'd Tiger Uppercut, an EX Low Tiger Shot in the corner, and even off of Sagat's super in a corner. When Sagat's ultra meter starts flashing, the opponent should be very afraid.